How to Make a Better Meatball

Our hearts will never go weak for the Italian staple, so it’s time to start making them better

OAK at Fourteenth

How are you going to cook your meatball?

Some things just never get old, especially when it comes to food. Traditional dishes — ones like dips and apple pies — hold a special place in many people’s hearts because of their consistently satisfying flavors and the memories they conjure. Whether it’s a recipe that we learned from our grandmother or a dish that represents a significant event in our lives, food has a way of crawling up inside our hearts and staying there forever.

For many, this sentiment can be applied to a hot, heaping plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Does anyone remember when Lady and the Tramp locked lips over it during a romantic, back-alleyway dinner? Or could you imagine an elegant meal at a red-and-white-checkered-table Italian restaurant without seeing it on the menu? Whether because of family, childhood movies, or just simply America’s overwhelming love for it, spaghetti and meatballs is a dish that will just never get old and never go away.

Ask any Italian about the rustic, home-style dish, though, and they’d tell you that it all starts with the meatballs, and the spaghetti is just an afterthought. Traditionally, the two were never supposed to be served together, but over time, and especially in America, they joined hands and are rarely seen without each other (at least in the respect that we discuss them here). Because anyone could boil water for pasta, we chose to zone in on this timeless dish by determining how to make a better meatball.

For help, we turned to Italian chef Michael Lomonaco to give us some pointers. While he doesn't serve Italian food at his New York City restaurants Porter House New York and Center Bar, he knows a thing or two about the region’s cooking. Lomonaco grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., with two Sicilian-immigrant parents, and he spent most of his life making and eating authentic Italian food. And along with Lomonaco’s key words of wisdom, some other friends in the industry, like Michael Psilakis and Marc Vetri, impart their meatball knowledge and share their recipes with us as well.

Recipes for a classic meatball will inevitably change over time; but the idea of one will never die in our hearts as food lovers. Live by these meatball-making rules given to us from the experts and you’ll make a better meatball, no matter what kind, every time.

Anne Dolce is the Cook Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @anniecdolce